Valve door construction



July 25, 1944.A

C. J. BATES VALVE DOOR COSTRUCTI ON Filled Dec. 24, 1942 Ch arles J. ds

Patented July 25, 1944 UNITED'f.sf-m1*'15513sv OFFICE i VALVEA Doon CONSTRUCTION Charles J Batt-,sf Englewood, N; J., assignorto Diebold, -Incorporated, acorporation of Ohio e Apalicationfoecember 24, 1942, serial No. 479,083 romanas. rc1. 10s- 75) The invention relates to valve doorpconstruction more particularly for ay safeyvaultfor Vthe like, and in which the safey doorway'is provided with valve seat shoulders, and the safe door includes operatively mounted ,thereon y.arr inner Valve panel, and in which when the doorzis 'closed in the`doorway under usual temperature. conditions, the valve panel is displaced from the valve seat shoulders, but when the temperature `about the valve panel reaches a predetermined degree as :by the action of external heat from `iire, `the valve panel is automatically displaced to seating and sealing position on the valve seat shoulders.

Spring pressed valve panels restrained' by fusible means of various kinds have been utilized in such valve door construction, but suchcon-f structions require a relatively great multiplicity of parts, and are relatively diicult to manufacture and assemble.

The objectsl of the present invention include the provision of improvements in valve door con-- struction in which simplied mounting means are utilized'for supporting a valve panel on a safe door, the simplied supporting means 'inf cluding 'relatively few parts, and beingf'adapted for rapid and economical manufacturefand as sembly; f

The foregoing and other objects are 'attained by the valve door constructions, parts, combinations, and sub-combinations which comprise the preesnt'invention, and the natureof-'whi ch is set forth in the following general statement, and

preferred embodiments-of which, togetherwithv their mode of'use are setforth by way of vexample in the following description,V and; which are particularly and distinctly pointed out and set forth in the appended claims forming part hereof. I

The nature of the valve door construction of' member having spaced connections, one conneci tion with the main door and-another connection with the -valve panel, and one connection for each bi-metal lmember permitting relative move-` ment between the loi-metal member and the con.- y

being preferably vention inv an upwardly opening` safe is' illustrated inthe accompanyingfdrawings forming part hereof, in which Y l Figure 1 isa fragmentary transverse sectional View illustrating an upwardly opening safe in. cluding the kpresent improved valve door construction, .the safe door rbeing shown closed in its doorway andwith the valve panel displaced and elevated from the valve seat shoulders of the doorway; Fig. 2,"a view similar to Fig. 1 in which the valve panel isin seating andsealing-.position on'. the valve seatshoulders of thefdoor'way; andvr vFigl'of, an enlargedrview of portions of Fig'. l,` with additionalr parts broken away and shown in section. y

lSimilar numerals refer tosimilar parts throughoutthe several views.

An upwardly opening safe l including the pres"-y ent improved valve door construction is indicated generally by l0, and as shown the safe is a. heat resisting lsafeji'ncluding inner .sheet metal vshellwalls I I, outerisheetmetal'shell.walls l2, the inner and outer sheet metal shell walls being spacedfrom each other, and V having Walls l 3. of` insulation'mat'erial Vlocated and filling 'theV 'space therebetween. v v y 1 Thesheet'metalsh'ell,Walls Il and IZandthe insulation material walls I3 .as shown are side wallsl and inthe upwardly opening-safe vl-ll exftendupwardly from: bottom walls. not-shown, the. side. wallsl and bottom walls forming-an upwardlyopening safe compartment -I 4. .Y

.The upper -ends of, theinnerl and outer sheet m'etalfshellfwalls -H and I2 are connected by formed sheetmetal jambfwalls l5 forming the Vupwardly opening doorway of the safe'ltl, and.

the jamb walls I-5 extend at their Ylower ends and.form with ,extensions-,of ,the inner sheet metal shell walls I l, upwardly; facing Vvalve seat shoulders I6 which areY horizontal.4 as shown.v

,A valvedoorindicated generally byll and including-fthe present improvements isconnected n at one side'byhinges I8 for swinging to and from theclosed position in the doorway shown in the drawings l v Thevalveqdoor'rH-includes afmain door indi-r cated generally by I9r and-,a valvepanel indicated generally by. 20 operativelymounted on the inner sideof vthe main door I9 by a plurality of im-` proved bi-metal 'connecting*means'feaclr indi-` catedrgen'erally by 2l.'.'. f 'n v v f VThe-main' door,v I9. istof re=resisting construeV`` tion and includes a sheet metal outer,wall'r2i2,z'a'

sheet metal'i'nner wall- 23 spaced froml the outer wall 22, `and slieetmetalajainb walls 21| connecting? Each improved bi-metal connecting means 2| mounting the valve panel on the main door I 9 includes, preferably as shown, a bi-metal strip cantilever member having a connection at one end as by rivet means 3| with inner peripheral portions of the sheet metal shell walls 'of the maindoor I9. y

At the other end of each bi-metal strip cantilever member 30, a preferably separable and clearance providing connection indicated generally by 32 is provided between the .bi-,metalmember 30 and the valve panel 20. A s'shown each connection 32 includes av bolt indicated generally by 33 having a head 34 on the inside of the valve panel 2B and a shank 35, and the valve panel l0` is provided with an enlarged aperture 36 for each bolt 33, the shank of which extends with clearance through its aperture 3B.

The bi-metal strip member 3U for eachbi-metal connecting means 2 I extends laterally between the main door I9 andthe valve panel 2U, and the fbimetal strip member 30 is provided withanenlarged aperture 31 registering with the adjacent aperture 3B of the valve panel 20. Q

On the inner face of each bi-metal stripfmember 30, a nut 38 extends across the` aperturefSJ and has separably screwed .therein thevreduced threaded end portion 39 of theassociated bolt 33. As shown each nut 38 may be located in a c iown;1 wardly opening dome 40 formed i y sheet metal walls of the shellof the maindoor I9'.^ Each bi-metal strip 'member y3l! of Aa usual construction and includes at least two Isheets or layers, each sheet or .lay'erbeing constitutedfoi metal different than the other, and the sheets being in surface connected abutment, with leach other, so that at ordinary room temperatures, each bi-metal strip member 30 is flat asgshown in Figs. l and f3, and at a higher temperature, such as 150 F., the designof each bi-metalstriprne'rnber 30 is Vsuch that the members '30 will bend to' the positions shown in Fig92, lthereby dropping and pushing the valve panel 20 against the'valve seat shoulders I6, as Vthe result'of the fact that the different metals of the bi-metal'strip membersl have diiferentco-eiicient's of thermal expansionj Thus under conditions vof usual room temperature, the valve door I 'l opens andcloses easily without requiring too ltight a iit betweenfthe door jamb walls 24 vand thel doorway jamb walls I5, butl when the safe Il) is subject vto excessiveheat'as by the action of external fire, the b i-'metal strip members 30 will operateas above described to drop and press the valve panel 20 against the valve seat shoulder I6, and thus to more effectivelysealthe interior safe compartment M from'theelevated external temperature and the flames andsmoke incident to an external r'e. The protection afforded to the contents of the safe compartment I 4 is thus substantially improved.` l l f Each bi-metal member 30` may'otherwise be described as a thermally actuated cantilever'supportingmember; 1 C l The embodiments 'ofI thepresent invention illustrated and described herein. are by wayof example, and the scope of the present inven-tion is not limited to the same or to the particular details thereof but is commensurate with any and all novel subject matter contained herein which may at .any time properly under the United States patent laws be set forth in the claims hereof or originating herein, and the elements of any such claims are intended to include their functional or structural equivalents.

I claimt" 'f 1. In valve door construction, a main door, a

valve panel, thermally actuated means including a strip member with spaced connections supporting thevalve panel on the main door for movement with respect to the main door at a predetermindtemperature, and valve seat means for closure by the valve panel on movement with respectto the main door.

,2 In valve door construction, a main door, a valve panel, and thermally actuated lever means supporting the valve panel on the main door for movement with resppect to the main door at a predetermined temperature.

3. In valve door construction, a main door, a Valve panel, and vthermally actuated cantilever means supporting the valve panel on the main door for movement with respect to the main door at a predetermined temperature.

4. In valve door construction, a main door part, a valve panel part, and thermally actuated means supporting the valve panel part on the main door part for movement with respect to the main door `part at a predetermined temperature, the supporting" means including a member movable by the action of heat, one connecting means between the` member and the main door part and another connecting means between the member and the panel part, one of the connecting means permitting relative movement betweenthe connected parts by clearance between. the connecting means and one :or more of the connected parts.; v l f 5. In valve `door construction, a main door part, a valve panel part, and thermally actuated means supporting the valve panel part on the main door partfor movement with respect to the main door part at a predetermined temperaturefthe supporting means including a member movable by theV action of heat, one connecting means between `the member and the main door part and another connecting means between themember and the panel part, one of the connecting means including separable parts.

6. In Valve door construction, a main door part, a valve panel part, and thermally actuated means supporting the valve panel part on the main door part for movement with respect to the main door part at a predetermined temperature,the supporting means including a member movable by the action of heat, one connecting means ,between the member and the main door part and another connecting means between the member and the panel part, oneof the connecting means including separable parts and permitting relative movement between the connected parts by clearance betweenthe connecting means and one or more of 4tlfie' connected parts.

7. In valve door construction, a main door, al valve ypanel, and bi-metal strip means supporting the valve panel on the main door for movement with respect to the main door at a predetermined temperature.

8.1In valve door construction, a main door, a valvezpanel, and bi-metal strip lever means supporting the valve panel on the main door` forA movement with respect to the main door at a 10. In valve door construction, a main door, a predetermined temperature. valve panel, and thermally actuated means in- 9. In valve door construction, a main-door, a cluding a strip member with spaced connections valve panel, and bi-metal ,strip cantilever means supporting the valvepanel on the main door for supporting the valve panel on the main door for `l; movement with respect to the main door at a movement with respect to the main door at a pre-#determined temperature. predetermined temperature. 1 e CHARLES'J. BATES. 

